Microsoft has made no secret of its plans to bring Windows 10 to every corner of the globe, releasing desktop versions, smartphone-compatible systems, and even the ability to broadcast your phone’s Windows OS to your TV if you want to. However one other aspect of the tech world it’s targeting are small form factor, screen-less IoT devices, with its Core system. To help people continue to innovate with that specialized version of the operating system, it’s now teamed up with Adafruit to release a starter kit for home-brew device-makers.
The IoT Core Starter Kit is designed to get developers up to speed and creating functional devices within in no time. It’s entirely compatible with the Raspberry Pi 2 and can in fact be ordered with one if you don’t already possess the credit card-sized computer system — although all versions are sold out at the time of writing.
When it does come back in stock, prospective buyers can expect a full-size breadboard, some male/male jumper wires, female/male extension wires, a miniature Wi-Fi module, temperature and humidity sensors, a color sensor, a 5-foot-long Ethernet cable, a switching power supply, and perhaps most importantly, an SD card preloaded with Windows 10 IoT Core.
All of this costs just $40 for the version that doesn’t come with a complete Raspberry Pi 2, though those buying the entire bundle together can expect to pay $115 when it’s all available once again.
Of course perhaps you just want the hardware in the pack and don’t really like the idea of a cut down Windows 10. That’s not a problem either, as all of the bundled hardware is entirely compatible with Raspbian Linux and Python, so there’s plenty of scope for interesting products with the new kit.
Other improvements to the software include improved security, added support for pulse-width modulation and analog-digital converters, as well as a much more impressive API. Microsoft has also fixed problems with the USB HID-class driver and a number of other meddling bugs.
